---
name: "Mervyn LeRoy"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/mervyn-leroy"
fi1m_id: "mervyn-leroy"
imdb_id: "nm0503777"
tmdb_id: 9054
wikidata_id: "Q103788"
roles: ["Director","Producer"]
born: "15 October 1900"
died: "13 September 1987"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 11
average_fi1m_score: 72
average_as: "director"
average_over: 10
updated: "2026-09-25T01:11:16.754110+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Mervyn LeRoy

## Identity

Mervyn LeRoy

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/mervyn-leroy
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** mervyn-leroy
- **IMDb ID:** nm0503777
- **TMDB ID:** 9054
- **Wikidata ID:** Q103788
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mervyn_LeRoy, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q103788, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0503777/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/9054

Director and producer. Born 15 October 1900 in San Francisco, California, USA. Died 13 September 1987.

## Details

- **Work:** Director, Producer
- **Born:** 15 October 1900, San Francisco, California, USA
- **Died:** 13 September 1987
- **Active:** 1931–1955
- **Also known as:** Mervyn Le Roy, Mervyn Leroy, 머빈 르로이
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 11: 10 directing, 1 producing
- **Frequently works with:** [Greer Garson](https://film.one/person/greer-garson.md), [Hal B. Wallis](https://film.one/person/hal-b-wallis.md), [Edward G. Robinson](https://film.one/person/edward-g-robinson.md), [Glenda Farrell](https://film.one/person/glenda-farrell.md), [Henry Travers](https://film.one/person/henry-travers.md), [Sheridan Gibney](https://film.one/person/sheridan-gibney.md), [Sidney Franklin](https://film.one/person/sidney-franklin.md), [Walter Pidgeon](https://film.one/person/walter-pidgeon.md)
- **Golden Globes:** 3 Golden Globes (3 won · 2 nominated)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 72, as director, over 10 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1930s 76 (6), 1940s 69 (3), 1950s 70 (2)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 75 to 73 across 5 titles
- **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 6 at 60–79, 2 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 10, Romance 5, Crime 3, History 3, Comedy 2, Action 1
- **Screen time:** 19 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $58m across 7 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mervyn_LeRoy, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q103788, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0503777/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/9054

## Streaming the US now

- **HBO Max:** [*The Wizard of Oz*](https://film.one/film/the-wizard-of-oz.md) (91), [*Quo Vadis*](https://film.one/film/quo-vadis.md) (65)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Mervyn LeRoy

> Mervyn LeRoy was a studio director, not an author, and for a few years at Warner Bros. that was exactly what the material needed. The early 1930s films are fast, plain and still angry; the later, larger ones are softer.

In *I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang* (1932), a convict is taken out of the bunkhouse to be strapped, and Mervyn LeRoy does not follow him. The camera stays on the men left behind, waiting for the sound. In *Five Star Final* (1931), Edward G. Robinson's editor washes his hands at every basin he passes and nobody in the film mentions it. Both are the same decision: show the thing next to the thing, and trust the audience to feel the rest. That is LeRoy at his best, and it is a director's habit rather than a writer's.

He came up through vaudeville and a studio apprenticeship in costume, camera and gag writing, directed his first feature in 1927, and hit his stride at Warner Bros. in the early 1930s. *Little Caesar* (1931), *Five Star Final* and *Chain Gang* came out inside two years. They are quick, plain and cross, and they are cross with institutions rather than with people: a newspaper, a prison system, a state that does not keep its word. The house style at Warners was fast and cheap, and LeRoy pointed it at targets that mattered. Sol Polito, who shot three films with him, gave the chain gang its hard daylight and lamp-lit gloom, so that stripes and sweat were all you could see.

He moved to MGM in 1938, as producer as well as director, and the pictures got bigger. *Random Harvest* (1942), *Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo* (1944) and *Quo Vadis* (1951) are the ones people remember from this stretch, and the usual complaint is that the anger went out and sentiment came in. He returned to Warners in the mid-1950s, made *The Bad Seed* (1956), and carried on directing into the mid-1960s. We have not reviewed the later films and will not judge them at length. What we can say is that he never left a visual thumbprint that lets you spot one of his shots, and he did not seem to want one. His own phrase for what mattered was "the play's the thing".

The two Warners films we have reviewed are where the case for him rests. *Chain Gang* is as good as its reputation, 92 minutes with almost no fat, and its last minute chilled us more than anything in the camp: a fade to black and a line of dialogue, with the film's whole view of the state inside it. *Five Star Final* is smaller and stagier, and its last act tips into melodrama, but the newsroom meeting in which circulation men decide whether a crusade or a murder will sell more copies is as sharp as anything he made. Robinson and Boris Karloff are both excellent in it, and Aline MacMahon has the best lines.

Start with those two. If you want to know what a studio director could do with a good script and a grievance, they are the answer. The later films are for people who already like him.

## Biography

Mervyn LeRoy was an American film director and producer. Born in San Francisco on 15 October 1900, he died in Beverly Hills on 13 September 1987. He began working in the film industry in the early 1920s in roles including costumes and as a gag writer before directing his first feature, *No Place to Go*, in 1927.

At Warner Bros. he directed *Little Caesar* (1931), *I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang* (1932) and *Gold Diggers of 1933* (1933). He moved to MGM in 1938 as head of production and produced *The Wizard of Oz* (1939). Later directing credits include *Random Harvest* (1942), *Quo Vadis* (1951), *Mister Roberts* (1955), *The Bad Seed* (1956) and *Gypsy* (1962).

LeRoy received the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1976.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, britannica.com.*

## On Fi1m (11)

### Directed (10) — the average rests on these

- *Mister Roberts* (1955), Fi1m 76, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/mister-roberts.md)
- *Quo Vadis* (1951), Fi1m 65, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/quo-vadis.md)
- *Madame Curie* (1943), Fi1m 72, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/madame-curie.md)
- *Random Harvest* (1942), Fi1m 76, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/random-harvest.md)
- *Blossoms in the Dust* (1941), Fi1m 58, Director, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/blossoms-in-the-dust.md)
- *Anthony Adverse* (1936), Fi1m 57, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/anthony-adverse.md)
- *Gold Diggers of 1933* (1933), Fi1m 82, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/gold-diggers-of-1933.md)
- *I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang* (1932), Fi1m 85, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/i-am-a-fugitive-from-a-chain-gang.md)
- *Five Star Final* (1931), Fi1m 70, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/five-star-final.md)
- *Little Caesar* (1931), Fi1m 74, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/little-caesar.md)

### Produced (1)

- *The Wizard of Oz* (1939), Fi1m 91, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/the-wizard-of-oz.md)

## Complete filmography (93)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Natalie - A Tribute to a Very Special Lady* (1982), Actor
- *Moment to Moment* (1966), Producer, Director
- *Mary, Mary* (1963), Director, Producer
- *Gypsy* (1962), Director, Producer
- *A Majority of One* (1961), Director, Producer
- *The Devil at 4 O'Clock* (1961), Director
- *Wake Me When It's Over* (1960), Director, Producer
- *The FBI Story* (1959), Director, Producer
- *Home Before Dark* (1958), Director
- *No Time for Sergeants* (1958), Director
- *Toward the Unknown* (1956), Director, Producer
- *The Bad Seed* (1956), Director, Producer
- *Mister Roberts* (1955), Director — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/film/mister-roberts.md)
- *Strange Lady in Town* (1955), Director, Producer
- *Rose Marie* (1954), Director
- *Latin Lovers* (1953), Director
- *Million Dollar Mermaid* (1952), Director
- *Lovely to Look At* (1952), Director
- *Quo Vadis* (1951), Director — Fi1m 65, [page](https://film.one/film/quo-vadis.md)
- *East Side, West Side* (1949), Director
- *Any Number Can Play* (1949), Director
- *The Great Sinner* (1949), Co-Director
- *Little Women* (1949), Director, Producer
- *Homecoming* (1948), Director
- *Desire Me* (1947), Director
- *Without Reservations* (1946), Director
- *The House I Live In* (1945), Director, Producer
- *Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo* (1944), Director
- *Madame Curie* (1943), Director — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/film/madame-curie.md)
- *You, John Jones!* (1943), Director
- *Random Harvest* (1942), Director — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/film/random-harvest.md)
- *Johnny Eager* (1941), Producer, Director
- *Unholy Partners* (1941), Director
- *Blossoms in the Dust* (1941), Director, Producer — Fi1m 58, [page](https://film.one/film/blossoms-in-the-dust.md)
- *Escape* (1940), Director, Producer
- *Waterloo Bridge* (1940), Director
- *At the Circus* (1939), Producer
- *The Wizard of Oz* (1939), Producer — Fi1m 91, [page](https://film.one/film/the-wizard-of-oz.md)
- *Stand Up and Fight* (1939), Producer
- *Dramatic School* (1938), Producer
- *Fools for Scandal* (1938), Director, Producer
- *The Great Garrick* (1937), Producer
- *Mr. Dodd Takes the Air* (1937), Producer
- *They Won't Forget* (1937), Director
- *The King and the Chorus Girl* (1937), Director
- *Three Men on a Horse* (1936), Director
- *Anthony Adverse* (1936), Director — Fi1m 57, [page](https://film.one/film/anthony-adverse.md)
- *The Making of a Great Motion Picture* (1936), Actor
- *I Found Stella Parish* (1935), Director
- *Page Miss Glory* (1935), Director
- *Oil for the Lamps of China* (1935), Director
- *Sweet Adeline* (1934), Director
- *Happiness Ahead* (1934), Director
- *Heat Lightning* (1934), Director
- *Hi, Nellie!* (1934), Director
- *The World Changes* (1933), Director
- *Tugboat Annie* (1933), Director
- *Gold Diggers of 1933* (1933), Director — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/gold-diggers-of-1933.md)
- *Elmer, the Great* (1933), Director
- *Hard to Handle* (1933), Director
- *I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang* (1932), Director — Fi1m 85, [page](https://film.one/film/i-am-a-fugitive-from-a-chain-gang.md)
- *Three on a Match* (1932), Director
- *Big City Blues* (1932), Director
- *Two Seconds* (1932), Director
- *The Heart of New York* (1932), Director
- *High Pressure* (1932), Director
- *Local Boy Makes Good* (1931), Director
- *Five Star Final* (1931), Director — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/film/five-star-final.md)
- *Broadminded* (1931), Director
- *Too Young to Marry* (1931), Director
- *Gentleman's Fate* (1931), Director
- *Little Caesar* (1931), Director — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/little-caesar.md)
- *Tonight or Never* (1931), Director
- *Top Speed* (1930), Director
- *Numbered Men* (1930), Director
- *Show Girl in Hollywood* (1930), Director
- *Playing Around* (1930), Director
- *Little Johnny Jones* (1929), Director
- *Broadway Babies* (1929), Director
- *Hot Stuff* (1929), Director
- *Naughty Baby* (1928), Director
- *Oh Kay!* (1928), Director
- *Harold Teen* (1928), Director
- *Flying Romeos* (1928), Director
- *No Place to Go* (1927), Director
- *Ella Cinders* (1926), Scenario Writer
- *The Chorus Lady* (1924), as Duke (the jockey)
- *Broadway After Dark* (1924), as Carl Fisher
- *The Call of the Canyon* (1923), as Jack Rawlins
- *Going Up* (1923), as The Bellboy
- *Little Johnny Jones* (1923), as George Nelson, Jockey
- *Prodigal Daughters* (1923), as Newsboy
- *My American Wife* (1922), as Extra

## Gallery

- ![Baseline Drive-In theater advertisement for the American dark drama film Home Before Dark (1958). From the 28 November 1958 San Bernardino Sun.](https://film.one/media/person/104632/gallery-f63940a591d7.jpg) Baseline Drive-In theater advertisement for the American dark drama film Home Before Dark (1958). From the 28 November 1958 San Bernardino Sun. — Warner Bros, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/27/Baseline_Drive-in_Ad_-_28_November_1958%2C_Highland%2C_CA.jpg/1280px-Baseline_Drive-in_Ad_-_28_November_1958%2C_Highland%2C_CA.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Crown Prince Akihito [now the Emperor] visits MGM studios (The Crown prince answers the greetings of leading lady Ann Blyth. The director on the right is Mervyn (1953)](https://film.one/media/person/104632/gallery-1a3ff891ab58.jpg) Crown Prince Akihito [now the Emperor] visits MGM studios (The Crown prince answers the greetings of leading lady Ann Blyth. The director on the right is Mervyn (1953) — 映画の友 (Eiga no tomo), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b6/Crownprinceakihito1953-eiganotomo-magazine-page20.jpg/1280px-Crownprinceakihito1953-eiganotomo-magazine-page20.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Harbor Drive-In theater advertisement for the psychological thriller film, The Bad Seed. 25 October 1956.](https://film.one/media/person/104632/gallery-67a0df983b57.jpg) Harbor Drive-In theater advertisement for the psychological thriller film, The Bad Seed. 25 October 1956. — Warner Bros., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/Harbor_Drive-In_Ad_-_25_October_1956%2C_National_City%2C_CA.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![来朝せるジョー・E・ブラウンとマーヴィン・ルロイ (1934)](https://film.one/media/person/104632/gallery-98aca15199c1.jpg) 来朝せるジョー・E・ブラウンとマーヴィン・ルロイ (1934) — 新聞聯合社, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Joe_E._Brown_and_Mervyn_LeRoy_in_Tokyo.jpg/1280px-Joe_E._Brown_and_Mervyn_LeRoy_in_Tokyo.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Director Mervyn LeRoy with his wife, Doris, on a ship at San Pedro. The occasion was probably the departure or return of Mervyn and Doris from their honeymoon t (1934)](https://film.one/media/person/104632/gallery-2dd21551f232.jpg) Director Mervyn LeRoy with his wife, Doris, on a ship at San Pedro. The occasion was probably the departure or return of Mervyn and Doris from their honeymoon t (1934) — Los Angeles Times, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cf/Mervyn_LeRoy_1934_%28cropped%29.jpg/1280px-Mervyn_LeRoy_1934_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Director Mervyn LeRoy with his wife, Doris, on a ship at San Pedro. The occasion was probably the departure or return of Mervyn and Doris from their honeymoon t (1934)](https://film.one/media/person/104632/gallery-8f8751870272.jpg) Director Mervyn LeRoy with his wife, Doris, on a ship at San Pedro. The occasion was probably the departure or return of Mervyn and Doris from their honeymoon t (1934) — Los Angeles Times, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a1/Mervyn_and_Doris_LeRoy.jpg/1280px-Mervyn_and_Doris_LeRoy.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 1 nominated

- 1943: Best Director (nominated), for *Random Harvest*

### Golden Globes — 3 won, 2 nominated

- 1962: Best Film Promoting International Understanding (won), for *A Majority of One*
- 1962: Best Director (nominated), for *Gypsy*
- 1958: Best Motion Picture – Drama (nominated), for *Home Before Dark*
- 1956: Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award (won)
- 1946: Best Film Promoting International Understanding (won), for *The House I Live In*

### Other awards — 2 won, 2 nominated

- Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award 1975: Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award (won)
- Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film 1961: Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film (nominated)
- Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film 1951: Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film (nominated), for *Quo Vadis*
- Academy Honorary Award 1945: Academy Honorary Award (won), for *The House I Live In*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/mervyn-leroy